CSBG Archive

Comic Theme Time Month – Best Superhero Costume Change

All December long, I will be doing daily installments of Comic Theme Time. Comic Theme Time is a twist on the idea of a “Top Five” list. Instead of me stating a topic and then listing my top five choices in that topic, I’m giving you the topic and letting you go wild with examples that you think fit the theme.

Today’s topic is “what is the best costume change that a superhero has made?”

Some examples of good costume changes include Quicksilver’s move from green to light blue, Nightwing’s move away from the “disco era” costume, Black Widow’s move from whatever the heck she used to wear in Tales of Suspense to the sleek cat-suit John Romita designed for her and the Angel’s move from the multi-colored suspenders look to the sleek number that Magneto designed for him in the Savage Land (without the parts of the costume that drained his powers, of course).

I know I’m probably going to catch some flack for this, but I always thought the Superman Blue costume from the late-90’s was pretty awesome… I mean, I understand why you would stick with the classic, as it is pretty much the most recognizable and iconic costume in all of comics, but it would have been nice to spin off the Superman Blue costume to another character… like say, Superboy or something.

MJ

Ms. Marvel switching from her horrible first costume to perhaps my favorite female costume immediately sprang to my mind. Black Widow is right up there. I hated when Frank Miller changed her costume during his original DD run.

salamurai

Spider-Man going black. I can’t think of another costume in and of itself that inspired hundreds of stories and a dozen or so new characters. (I’m not saying those were good, but the costume sure is swell)

As a kid I liked the Cockrum era’s new designs for the Legion, although as I got older I found some of the old costumes weren’t that bad. Still of those that I still think were changes for the better…
Shrinking Violet
Duo Damsel
Phantom Girl
Element Lad
Star Boy
Lightning Lad

Coollikecolossus

Adam

Agreed on Daredevil’s update, but let’s also not neglect Iron Man going from grey to gold armor, and then finally to red and gold. (I realize that Iron Man has worn a zillion different versions of his primary, non-specialized suits, but the red-and-yellow version is the most iconic and the usual frame of reference for any update.)

There’s a few I’d note:
Iron Man from that clunky gray/gold armor to the classic, sleek red and yellow (minus the nose of course).

Any costume change for Wonder Man out of that crazy green number he started in (even the safari jacket!)

I loved that Wasp would change costumes all the time as someone else would change outfits. George Perez’s original Avengers run was a great time time for that.

Can’t argue too much about the success of the red Daredevil or initial Tim Drake Robin changes. Those are excellent. And I don’t know if it’s a change or not, but the Vertigo treatment of Wesley Dodds with the suit and gas mask is leagues better that the Sandman’s original generic yellow and purple number…

mdksun

Uh, Sandman originally wore the suit, fedora and gas mask, Simon and Kirby changed it to the yellow and purple costume and added Sandy. Years later, when Sandman popped up on DC’s Earth 2, he was back to the suit and an updated gas mask. But yeah, that Vertigo Sandman series was awesome.

MBloom

I liked it a lot when Kyle Rayner ditched his original costume and crab mask for that sleeker post-Ion suit. I still think that’s probably my favorite Green Lantern design ever.

I’ll also be controversial and say that I loved the Wonder Woman costume change for JMS’s Odyssey storyline (especially once the 90s jacket was dropped). Ironically, for a younger take on Wonder Woman she had a much more mature and adult costume – something that was primarily designed to be functional over titillating.

Julian

Rob

Bryan L

Ms. Marvel was the first that leaped to my mind. Nightwing abandoning the disco outfit was the second. The current Robin look (more or less — the long pants with the red vest — I know it’s changed somewhat from Tim Drake to Damien) is a HUGE improvement over the old bare-legged look.

The Frank Quitely leather uniforms in New X-Men. A perfect fusion of the movie look with the original uniform aesthetic. Didn’t work for every character (such as the Beast, who already had a full fur coat and didn’t need a bulky jacket), but represented one of the few times superheroes have been even remotely fashionable.

JL

Giffen/Lim/Del’Otto’s redesign of Thanos from his mini-series thru Annihilation. I didn’t mind his original purple and gold, but the white black and bald look was badass and made him look even more like Darkseid.

Madden the Scientist

Previously mentioned but deserving of an amen: Robin’s ’90s reboot (immediately post short pants) was a great look. I like it better than the current one. Neal Adams’ Green Arrow redesign was awesome, as was Cockrum’s new look for the Legion. And Iron Man’s red-and-gold suit is light years better than his original monochromatic designs.

Deadshot was redesigned from his first appearance, and it still works.

Kid Flash going from the all-red copy of the Flash to the yellow-and-gold look.

Elongated Man’s iconic red outfit was an improvement over the original shades of purple, although that wasn’t bad either.

I agree… let’s do worst next! I call dibs on all of Dr. Mid-Nite and Hourman from the Infinity Inc. days!

docorlando

Amazed no one’s mentioned it, but Luke Cage, going from his “Power Man” gold tiara, chains and yellow disco shirt to just his basic t-shirt and pants. He went from hideously outdated racial/decade stereotype to serious street level muscle.

Hooper

T.

Tim Drake’s Robin costume was a huge step up from the previous ones, then his one (post-Superboy death?) getting rid of the green was even better.

I agree, that was a very underrated costume. The red and grey Robin costume died way too quickly, and i hope when things go back to normal and Tim Drake becomes Robin again (we all know it’s gonna happen), that’s the costume they go with.

Squashua

T.

Amazed no one’s mentioned it, but Luke Cage, going from his “Power Man” gold tiara, chains and yellow disco shirt to just his basic t-shirt and pants. He went from hideously outdated racial/decade stereotype to serious street level muscle.

It’s funny but I think Cage looks more like a stereotype now than he did in the 70s. Sure he may have ACTED more stereotypical with the jive talk and all, but I don’t know a single black guy in the 70s or any other era who wore anything close to what he was wearing back then. On the other hand, since Bendis got a hold on him everyone who draws him now gives him a different stereotypical urban look of some type: bald head with earring and goatee and baggy puffy clothes or bandana with oversized jeans and construction boots, etc, etc.

T.

I liked it a lot when Kyle Rayner ditched his original costume and crab mask for that sleeker post-Ion suit. I still think that’s probably my favorite Green Lantern design ever.

Are you talking about that awful Jim Lee design that was way too busy and glow-y? That, like all Jim Lee costumes, was an abomination. I still think that crab mask costume was and still is Kyle’s best costume.

Smokescreen

T.

Actually, the Dazzler mention makes me think of a possibly even better follow-up question than worst costume change: most dated costume change. Costumes that regardless of whether you think they’re good or bad are simply too tied to the era they were created in to work in any other era. Dazzler went from one extremely of-its-era Disco costume to another extremely of-its-era Olivia Newton John meets New Wave costume.

Anonymous

I agree with the Superman Blue guy, cuz that actually was a visually pleasing design; I always wondered why they didn’t just add it to his other back-up suits like the lead-lined and red-sun suits, like he only got the Blue powers when he wore the costume. I think that would have been a great way to keep it around. But DC had to go and make the whole thing silly by doing the whole Red/Blue thing.

Also, I want to throw my hat in with the Wolverine and Spidey redesigns from the 80s, costumes that are just as popular as the originals. But to add to that, I’d like to say Ben Reilly’s SWpiderman 2.0 costume was a really cool update on the classic red and blues, and I actually prefer it. I know a lot of people won’t agree with me, but hey, it was god enough for Spider-Girl right?

Then there was the Jim Lee X-Men redesigns, which lasted all the way through the 90s and have been immortalized thanks to the awesome 90s cartoon. You could make the argument that they’re even more iconic than the Claremont/Byrne era designs.

And speaking of Lee, I loved his early 2000s Kyle Rayner redesign; while his first appearance costume was actually pretty striking, there’s something about his second one that works really well and it’s a shame the one he’s using currently is an ugly mish-mash of the two. Either stick with one or the other, don’t mix them unless you know what you’re doing! For example, if you’re going to keep anythig from the first costume, it’s the gloves and boots, not the off center emblem and the mask.

Eric

” How about Captain America’s Ultimate version. Not a change per se but a redesign. ”

Wouldn’t quite count, because in the Ultimate Universe, that’s the way he always dressed (other than the WW2 outfit, which was a pretty standard uniform with just the patriotic colors, and an aviator cap under his helmet). It’s not like he was wearing the traditional Cap costume, then suddenly decided ” I think I should clip off the wings and buccaneer boot cuffs, mute my colors, add a utility belt, and start hating French people as a running joke”.

If it did count, though, it and the other Ultimates designs would’ve been my first pick.

I agree that Wolverine’s move from yellow to brown was an improvement, but before that, his change from his very first yellow outfit in Hulk to the one he wore in the X-Men was also a huge improvement.

sandwich eater

I vote for Spider-Man’s black suit. I remember at one point Marvel decided to compromise and have him wear read and blue during the day and black at night. Although, that was a little out of character for Spidey, I kind of liked that idea.

Iron Man changing his armor from the heavy gold suit to the red and gold armor would be a second place choice. It’s probably the only time that the costume most associated with a character is not their first costume (maybe Ms Marvel is in that category too).

Also the Wasp has changed costumes so many times that statistically you would expect her to have the best costume change, but I’ve never really liked any of her outfits.

Kitty Pride’s quest for her own costume is probably the most amusing story involving a costume change.

The worst costume change has to be the Black Cat’s plunging neckline. It was lower every time she appeared. By the early 90s it was down past her belly button. Her original costume was pretty great though.

dhole

I agree that the FF costumes changing after the negative zone was a real good one. They went from the most boring costumes to a pretty striking cover scheme. I also liked how, rather than choosing a new look, Byrne made the change a side effect of their abrupt return from the negative zone (don’t really see how it makes any sense, but it’s a fun idea anyway).

Spidey’s black costume was very cool, but I’m glad he still wears the classic one.

Roman

1) Star Boy’s switch to the star field jumpsuit. Visually stunning.
2) Mar-Vell from the green and white to red and blue.
3) Wonder Man to the Safari Jacket look. Completely different, yet it worked for him.
4) Jean Grey from the Marvel Girl mini to the Phoenix jumpsuit and sash.
5) Green Arrow to the Neal Adams suit, then to Grell’s Errol Flynn look — both great improvements.
6) Most of Cockrum’s upgrades to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Third Man

Daredevil (red) and Wolverine (Byrne brown) were the first two I thought of. I also think Rogue looked her best in Jim Lee’s 1991 design with the jacket. I agree with Ms. Marvel.

And even though it’s not as good as the original, Spider-Man’s switch to the black costume was damn great for a blatant “let’s shock ‘em with a redesign.” It’s rare that a comic character has more than one iconic look, but Spidey definitely qualifies.

I’ve pretty much liked every Wolverine costume (brown and orange, ’90’s blue and yellow) except Patch. I understood the reason for it, but the fishnet over his eyes was really goofy. His current stealth costume for Uncanny X-Force is much cooler, in fact I like all of the Uncanny X-Force costumes. Even though they’re more color-swaps than anything.

Speaking of UXF members, I know that the ’90’s “bad-girl” costumes for superheroines are usually looked down upon, but I definitely prefer Psylocke’s sleek ninja outfit over the original purple and pink hooded monstrosity.

TerribleD

Greg Geren

Since the Cockrum and Sprouse Legion redesigns have already been praised, I’ll put in the Giffen redesigns, both from 1982-1983 and his later re-redesigns in 1988. Sure some of that last atch were pretty jarring but the looked futuristic.

From Marvel I have to go with Mar-Vell’s red and blue Gil Kane designed suit from the green & white original.

Goh Mifune

I honestly loved the Red/Black Daredevil costume, the red, though iconic, is my least favorite. I liked the armored one(You’d think DD would be a stealthy character) and the Flying Blind costume was best.

Aquaman’s Blue Camo costume is so cool. Tempest got to keep his Red Camo, but not AC, which sucks. The Orange and Green is like Superman’s costume, tragically permanent.

Dean Hacker

1. Wally Wood’s Daredevil. He went from a terrible costume to a good one.
2. Marshall Rogers’ Deadshot. Totally changed the character from mort to cool antihero.
3. Dave Cockrum’s Phoenix. Gave Jean Grey a totally sexy costume that was oddly modest and, thereby, turn “Marvel Girl” in to a woman.
4. Frank Quitley’s New X-Men. You could tell just by looking at them that it was going to be different.
5. The most recent Robin costume for Tim Drake. I was never a huge fan of the Neal Adams costume, but the red & black color scheme was great.

salamurai

Wally East

Wally West as Kid Flash going from the mini-Barry costume to the yellow suit. Great redesign.

While technically not a redesign, the Dark Flash costume was great. The darker red, silver trim, and the lightning bolt from the shoulder were distinctive but still identifiable as The Flash (or a version of The Flash).

Ganky

I found the DC One Million version of a future Wonder Woman pretty cool, like she was made of marble with, was it a computerized shield or bracelet called Harmony that turned into a plane? Did she ever appear again anywhere?

Arcangel was an interesting new look for X-Men’s Angel, though I didn’t have a problem with his red-and-white suit with the halo on the chest. He needed the new look and abilities to make him more than just a guy with wings.

Will Y.

[…] Comic Theme Time Month – Best Superhero Costume Change … salamurai. December 21, 2011 at 00:00 am. Spider-Man going black. I can't think of another costume in and of itself that inspired hundreds of stories and a dozen or so new characters. (I'm not saying those were good, but the costume sure is swell) . December 21, 2011 at 00:00 am. Other good ones: Jean Grey's green miniskirt, Captain Britain's second costume, the yellow Kid Flash costume, Banshee's switch to the X-uniform, and Captain Mar-Vell's second suit. In brief: Bank robber uses Spider-Man mask – El Paso Times A robber wearing a black Spider-Man mask held a teller hostage at gunpoint during a bank robbery Thursday in far East El Paso, FBI officials said. […]